When Wang Zhifan’s team arrived at the mining area, it wasn’t just a primitive mine; in fact, it resembled more of a small base.

After getting out of the vehicle, they were met with large-scale artificial facilities, like ore crushers and smelting furnaces, along with mining vehicles driving out from the mine, and team members operating three-meter-high combat mechas patrolling back and forth.

"This time, we are scheduled to dig in the same mine with Mining Team 2! But they are in charge of the northern area, and we are responsible for the southern area! Make sure not to go to the wrong place later on!"

At this moment, Wang Zhifan led the group to the entrance of the mecha warehouse guarded by robots, and after announcing the work locations, he arranged for them to start boarding their respective mechas.

First, the security team members entered the mecha warehouse in batches, boarding their combat mechas to prepare, followed by a hundred convict miners boarding their respective mining mechas, pulling out production tools from the warehouse and lining up to enter the mine.

As the team leader, Wang Zhifan also had his combat mecha, which was of the highest military-grade among them all, but he merely glanced at the thing inside the warehouse and walked out, choosing not to board.

The reason was simple, he didn’t really fancy that bulky black machine, feeling that it was inferior to his existing Sagittarius Mecha in many aspects, and he didn’t really need mecha assistance anyway, as it might be cumbersome.

Shortly thereafter, he watched as his team members drove their respective mechas to their workstations.

The miners all entered the mine, operating two types of mining mechas with noticeable size differences, clearly indicating they were standard and advanced versions.

The team members mostly drove combat mechas inside to oversee the work, while a few remained outside the mine to assist with security.

The standard mining mecha was only about two meters tall and three meters long, with an overall appearance resembling a steel crab, two mining claws at the front for breaking and grabbing ore, and a truck bed at the back for temporarily loading ore. The miner sat in the cockpit at the connection between the mining claws and the truck bed, more akin to a bizarrely shaped excavator than a mecha.

The advanced mining mecha, on the other hand, was more humanoid, with a height of five meters and a torso diameter of three meters. Its massive steel arms were excellent tools for grabbing ore, and the chest cavity and stomach were used for temporarily storage of ore, with the pilot seated in the cockpit located in the structure that formed the mecha’s head.

To prevent the miners operating these intimidatingly powerful mining mechas from causing trouble, the security team members’ combat mechas were considerably more terrifying in performance.

Though not as enormous as the advanced mining mechas, the combat mechas were equipped with powerful weapons and electronic jammers specifically targeting the mining mechas.

If the miners with their mining mechas ever caused a disturbance, the security team would swiftly lock down control of the mecha, leaving it as helpless as a lamb for slaughter.

"Captain, why aren’t you using your own mecha? It could be really dangerous if you encounter falling rocks inside the mine without it!"

While the miners obediently drove their mining mechas, accompanied by security team members in combat mechas, into the mine, Wang Zhifan remained in his team leader uniform.

He walked on the ground toward the vast interior of the mine, the team member responsible for guarding the mine entrance vocalizing a reminder.

"I don’t feel like using that thing today. You all make sure to guard this place well and prevent other mining teams from stealing the minerals we extract." 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

Wang Zhifan casually reminded them, then walked into the enormous mine ahead without turning back.

He still had a lot of curiosity about this mining area. After all, he’d never been to a place like this before, somewhat feeling like he was here for sightseeing.

In his view, the mining area ahead was vast, with the main path of the mine dug to be at least ten meters high and thirty meters wide, wide enough to accommodate multiple advanced mining mechas passing side by side.

In front of him, two cube-shaped hover automatic mining trucks about the size of cars quickly approached from the depths of the mine, filled with various colored unknown ores, reflecting multiple layers of light under the surrounding mine lights.

Beside the mining trucks, two team members operating combat mechas escorted them throughout the journey. When they saw Wang Zhifan entering without using his mecha, the vigilance on their faces turned into surprise.

"Arranging guards just to send out some minerals, afraid they’ll get robbed by other teams... What kind of mining base is this, it’s just ridiculous."

Observing the scene, Wang Zhifan felt speechless, increasingly finding this mining base far from professional in mining, more like a setup for chaos, with regulations unlike those of a production enterprise.

But he had no intention to adjust or suggest anything. To him, successfully navigating this scenario was the most important thing.

"Perhaps, seizing others’ minerals might be a viable strategy for passing through, need to prepare some contingency plans."

Turning his head to watch the other team’s members escorting their hard-earned fruits out, Wang Zhifan entertained such a notion in his mind.

Typically, with his personality, he didn’t like taking from others; his own hard work was the most gratifying, but sometimes conventional methods just wouldn’t get you through, and in such cases, special strategies had to be employed, for you can’t let yourself be stifled to death by some concepts.

Time quickly passed, and after walking nearly a kilometer through the main path of the mine, Wang Zhifan soon arrived at the fork leading to the northern and southern mining areas.

There were also two team members stationed here for security, who raised their hands in salute from the high-up combat mecha cockpits as soon as they saw him approaching.